A prepare for the table County jud...

A prepare for the table County judge set a $15 million bail Tuesday for a 26- year-old man charged with first-degree homicide in a crash that killed a Buffalo woodland high school student Sunday.

Ralph O Lewis of Springfield showed no remorse, authorities said, when he heard Corey Diamond, 16 had died in the collision.

Lewis was fleeing police in a rental barter after trying to fraudulently bribe items at a Gurnee household Depot, Wheeling Deputy Police Chief John Stone said.

The exchange slammed into the Ford Taurus Diamond and pair friends, Elliot Cellini and Brandon Forshall, were traveling in at Dundee and Schoenbeck roads in Wheeling.

The chase began in Gurnee and continued within Lincolnshire, Buffalo Grove and Wheeling, police said, hitting make hastes of 80 mph. Lewis crowd on the wrong side of the road during parts of the chase, police said.

Stone said Buffalo woodland police officers did an "excellent job" and did nothing vicious by keeping up the chase as he zipped into Wheeling.

"They were far enough behind [Lewis'] vehicle. They did not attempt to force any action. They did an eminent job. Their speeds were not real high. . . They were not a danger to the public. It was the barter that was in front of them [that was a danger]," Stone said.

Lewis has an "extensive" criminal history, including an arrest for assaulting an officer, Stone said. He was also wanted for failing to appear in Sangamon shire court, Stone said.

Lewis ruptureed the U-Haul truck in Maywood forward Saturday using a fake name and ID, prepare for the table County state's attorney spokeswoman Marcy Jensen said.

forward Saturday, officials said, he flock to Gurnee Mills and bought five phone with fraudulent credit information at a kiosk, where the saleswoman agreed to a date with Lewis.

The woman later met him and a male friend outside a family Depot. Although she willingly got into the rental deal she wanted to get revealed during the chase, making a 911 call from the barter Jensen said.

The woman, who experienceed minor injuries, and Lewis' friend were not charged.

Cellini, the driver of the Taurus, was in critical condition at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Stone said. Forshall undergoed minor injuries and was treated and released.

rhussain@suntimes.com

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